CHAPTER 13
Sharp
This has been one hell of a busy week, and I am more than aware that Shar is working through what she considers her list of chores before she leaves the club and town.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I look up when, after a knock, Gunner opens the door and walks into my office. “Sorry for disturbing you, Pres. I wanted to fill you in on a couple of things if you have time to talk?”
“Of course, take a seat.”
I wait for Gunner to sit and look back at me. “So, what can I do for you?”
“I’m going to keep Zara home-schooled. She’s had that bullying issue, as you know. But, she’s doing really well with this tutor and I think it would be stupid to send her back into a toxic environment when she can continue as she is. I don’t mind paying the extra to make sure she gets her education.”
I happen to agree with his thinking on this issue, and knowing Zara can be timid at times, I don’t know how well she would have coped with going back to the school. “I agree with you, Gunner. Zara is doing better, and she’s come out of herself more with Shar being here. They are getting along great, and it’s the sisterhood if you like, that is helping her thrive.”
“I saved a lot when we were running the guns and shit, so I’m not bothered about spending that on Zara. She’s never asked me for anything, and she’s been a good kid. I am doing everything I can to make up for the shit in the past.”
Gunner rubs his hands over his face, and I know he is doing everything he can to help Zara grow into a confident and caring woman.
“Did you know Zara wants to open a hair salon?”
I ask and can see by Gunner’s expression he knows.
“Yeah, I’m happy to buy the salon if that’s what she wants, but she really has to make sure she has a plan set out,”
Gunner states.
Nodding my head, “Yeah, I agree, and Shar said she’d do a business plan with Zara so we all could see if it was viable. They are talking about Zara getting herself qualified, but having a manager and another stylist in place. Zara will ultimately be the owner, with the club as co-owners. You know we won’t let her do this on her own, and she’ll always have the club’s protection on her business.”
“Ah, so that’s what they were doing last night with their heads down, laptop open and a calculator they grabbed from Bank’s office,”
Gunner relays what he’d seen and heard.
It sounds as though they are taking this seriously, which is as I would expect from Shar. But teaching Zara to be the same is a wise thing for her to do, and a blessing for the club.
“I’m willing to buy it outright, but if you want the club to part own, that’s good with me, too. I don’t think, as you say, it’s a bad thing to have the club behind her for security. Nobody will want to mess with the place if they know we are involved.”
Gunner taps his knee before rising from his seat and heading to the door. “I’ll see you later, Pres. I’m heading out to the strip club to do a shift on the door.”
Once Gunner has left the office, I lean back in my seat mulling over all that is happening at this point in time. I am more than happy we are coming away from the illegal shit. We’ve lost brothers in the past due to gunrunning and drug hauling. I’m not willing to lose more if I can help it. I’m not down for burying any more brothers apart from old age and disease.
Tapping on the desktop I consider my next job of the day, which is speaking to Psycho and Porky because if they are not willing to work the junkyard, there is no point us trying to purchase the place. I would need them here to check it out before they gave me a solid decision.
Picking up my phone, I call Psycho’s number, and he answers on the second ring. “Yeah, what’s up?”
He quickly asks.
“You chilling somewhere?”
I ask and grin to myself as I hear talking in the background.
“We just stopped at a diner to grab a bite to eat and a drink. We didn’t want to stop a few more miles down the road again, except for gas. Anyway, what can we do for you?”
Sighing because I’m not sure this is going to go as I want it to, but it won’t happen if I don’t push for it. “You know the junkyard on the edge of town?”
“Yeah, passed it enough times. The place has gotten run down, and time the old fucker sold it to some younger and fitter people.”
Now that is interesting. Seems Psycho has taken notice of the place, but shocks me even more when he continues, “If me and Porky had enough, we’d have pushed the old fuck to sell it to us. It has potential for sure, and you know the town needs that place. It caters to towns around us, too.”
“Well, it’s funny you say all that because the club is thinking of purchasing the place, but we need someone to run it. I was thinking of you, Porky and Croc, since you are the closest of brothers.”
I hold my breath because this is the point he’ll either tell me to go fuck myself or be interested enough to come look. “Now, before you say anything, I reckon it would be ideal if you come on back to take a solid look at the place. We’ll not put any offers in until you have given it the go-ahead. You’ll be responsible for the place, answerable, and keep it legit.”
“Let me discuss it with Porky and I’ll get back to you, Pres. But it’s a possibility if we are going to be left to run it as we think fit, keep legit too.”
Psycho cuts the call and I lean back in my seat with a small grin on my face because I think I’m going to get my brothers back.
Pulling up the group chat on my phone for all my officers, I quickly tap out, I need them in the office. Placing the phone on the desk, I sit back and wait.
Fifteen minutes later, all officers are sitting in my office, waiting for me to start the meeting. “Okay, I wanted you all here because as officers of the club, your opinion counts more than most, and of course you know where the club finances, etcetera, are at. I spoke with the mayor and asked what businesses he felt the town was lacking. It was interesting and his reply was the junkyard, for starters. Now, I’ll come back to that in a moment. Apart from the junkyard, he mentioned a hardware store, a butcher shop, and a tech store. Personally, I think the butcher shop needs dropping, but that is just my way of thinking. What do you all think of those three?”
Atlas, our road captain, nods, “Well, I think a hardware store is well needed in town. I have often heard people complaining they have to go out of town for stuff, or get online, but then they have to wait for delivery. There is that small store on the corner of Fourth and Main, that would be an ideal location for one.”
“Yeah, I think you're right, Atlas. I’ve heard Cord had to order shit through Zip for the garage, and it’s making it take far longer than it should to get things done,”
Pen adds to the conversation.
Zip leans forward as he speaks, getting my attention. “That’s right. I’ve had quite a few ask me to order stuff for the strip club, garage, and the diner. I have to make the orders then throw the invoices over to Bank.”
“I think all these are good ideas, and there is not enough work for all the brothers. I think this is where the dissatisfaction stems from, as they are worried about where their next dollars are coming from,”
Brawl, our Sergeant at Arms, states.
“Okay, Pen, Bank and Zip, get all the information you can and we’ll discuss it in church. We’ll need to see who wants to step into what role. Now, are we talking tech store as well?”
I ask, looking at Zip because he’s our tech man after all.
“You know, I reckon if we go for a larger shop, or store, depending on what you want to call it, we could have half the hardware and the other half tech. That way, it would always be covered if a brother or brothers had to step out.”
Zip looks from one of us to another, and I can see the moment they all agree.
“Okay, I see you all like that idea, so we need to look for a place big enough to do that. Get all the information before we decide on anything.”
I tap the desk and look at Bank because he’s the money man after all.
“Yeah, we’ll do that, Pres, then let you know when we are ready to bring it to the table for the brothers to vote on it,”
Bank responds.
“What about the butcher's idea?”
I ask, knowing what the response will be, and sure enough, it’s voted down for the time being at least. It’s put on the shelf for now, but we may look into it at a later date.
“So, what about this junkyard?”
Brawl asks, and he looks more than a little interested.
“I think it would be an ideal way to get Psycho and Porky back. I’ve spoken to Psycho, and he’s interested. He’ll speak to Porky, then get back to me. Those two and Croc would be ideal for the place, and we could let them run it as they see fit. The club would benefit as owners, and we add that as an extra business to our collection. Because that’s what we’re doing brothers. We are collecting businesses that suit our brothers. Ground them to the club and the town, giving them regular cash, and I sincerely hope a good life.”
The brothers are all nodding in agreement, and I’m proud of them for making the jump for the shit we were involved in, to coming clean. “Oh, I want to just ask if you are all happy to keep Lira as a permanent member of staff, so to speak?”
Again, all heads are nodding and ayes, called out. Shrapnel, our medic, grins. “For sure we keep her. Have you tasted her cooking? She cooks healthy too. You know that the meal last night was vegetarian, and not a single brother complained we didn’t have meat.”
Now, I am not sure any of us noticed that because he’s right, no one complained, and that meal was damn tasty. I had second helpings, and I think Trip had three. “I can still taste it,”
I admit and get chuckles and nods from the brothers in agreement. “Okay, we tell her she’s in for the long haul. Make sure that room is good for her, Trip. It was shabby, and now she’s here permanently, it needs to be decent. Oh, check on her grandmother's situation too. I think all is good now, but let me know.”
“Will do, Pres,”
Trip responds.
“Okay, let’s wrap this up and report back to me before church.”
I watch as they all leave apart from Crack, who has been quiet throughout the meeting.
Standing from his seat and heading to look out of the window, Crack sighs before turning and looking at me. “Well, I did my best, Pres. I kissed Shar.”
“You did, and how did it go? You going to be coupled up now?”
I grin as I ask.
“Nope, we didn’t have a spark. Not a single one. It was flat as fuck. So, we sistered and brothered up, and that’s it.”
Sighing again, Crack walks out of the office, leaving me thinking shit, he really wanted her.
Half an hour later, I walk out of my office and through to the kitchen where I’m going to grab a coffee. I may ask Lira what she can make for me quickly as a snack, too. But hearing a voice snarling I slow my step to listen to what the fuck is going on.
“Who do you think you are? You’ve come here and started taking control of everything. We’ve been here longer than you, and we say if you can do things, so you ask before you touch stuff.”
That sounds like Wendy, and she’s being a prize bitch by the sound of it.
“We don’t need the permission of a club whore to do anything in the kitchen. Uncle Sharp is the boss here, and you can go take a long walk off a short pier and take your damn orders with you.”
Now, that is Zara’s voice, and she’s throwing out Uncle Sharp, which means she’s more than annoyed and she’s pushing for Wendy to back down.
“Look, I don’t know who all you women are, but I’m here to do a job, and I’m going to do it whether you like it or not. I cook and I clean the kitchen. You all do the rest. Now, I’ve been told by Trip, Crack and Brawl that you women cannot order me around. So, I’m not listening to you. But if you want to cause a problem, we’ll speak to President Sharp about it.”
I hold back my chuckle when I hear Lira call me President Sharp. She still has a lot to learn, I think to myself. But this has gone on long enough so I push open the swing door and step into the kitchen.
“Wendy, one more word out of your mouth and you are out the door. This is the second time you’ve had warnings about bullying Lira regarding the kitchen. You’ve caused more drama than a eunuch in a whorehouse, and I’m not going to give you any more warnings. This is the last one. You either toe the line, do what you are supposed to, or get the fuck out of my clubhouse.”
Wendy nods her head and scuttles out of the kitchen, and I chuckle because she’s brave when it comes to bullying other women, but she can’t face up to the brothers.
“Now, Lira, what can you give me to eat? Oh, and it had better be something pretty damn special now that I’ve confirmed your position here as full time!”
I smirk as both Lira and Zara gawk at my statement. Watching them dance together in the kitchen has me laughing along with them. It looks like they are going to be friends, and that’s a good thing if Shar leaves. Thinking about Shar has me humming because someone has to make the next move on her!